This is the fourth post in the Hello Argentina Series detailing my week-long trip in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Other posts include Hello Argentina, La Cabrera, La Rambla, and Empanadas, Tamales, and Beer, Oh My!It's no surprise that an area known for its beef will also be known for its leather and milk-based products. Although I had always heard about Argentina's famously good beef, I never quite made the mental connection to ice cream (or leather, for that matter).
It wasn't until I arrived in Argentina that I realized that Argentinians are obsessed with good ice cream, and the standards are ridiculously high here.
Although I only had a week in Buenos Aires, I made it my mission to at least try the three most famous spots (and then some).
I purposely made a point of trying flavors that are not as readily available in the U.S., such as anything with dulce de leche, alfajores, or other more local flavors. The summer weather made my ice cream project all the more fun, and I came away with the conclusion that you almost can't go wrong when it comes to ice cream in Argentina.
1. Freddo
Freddo is one of the most well-known and largest chains in Buenos Aires. It started as a family-owned business in 1969. According to most reports, Freddo changed the landscape of ice cream in Argentina, raising people's standards and expectations of what good ice cream should be.
Freddo is most famous for its dulce de leche ice cream, which is fantastic. It's super thick, creamy, smooth, and has a lovely rich flavor. It's most similar to the texture of Toscanini's ice cream back home.
What I love about all ice cream shops in Buenos Aires is that they have a whole section devoted to dulce de leche, a rich, caramel-like Argentinian sauce made from cooking milk and sugar over low heat for hours until it slowly caramelizes. It's fabulous and Argentinians are obsessed with it. They put it on everything!
At Freddo, dulce de leche serves as a base for a variety of flavors, including ones that incorporate chocolate, nuts, brownies, or all other sorts of mix-ins.
Of course, if you can't find the mix-in you want, Freddo offers a variety of additional toppings.
One fun special item they had were ice cream alfajores. An alfajor is a popular sandwich cookie in Argentina that contains dulce de leche sandwiched between two chocolate cookies. The entire cookie can be covered in chocolate, but not always.
Freddo offered a fun ice cream version that contained dulce de leche ice cream inside instead of the traditional dulce de leche. Although it was fun to try, I soon realized that I don't actually really like the flavor of the alfajor cookie (I'm not sure what spice they use, but it's something that I don't like).
I still loved the dulce de leche ice cream from Freddo, which became my benchmark.
2. Un Altra Volta
Interestingly enough, the top three ice cream chains in Buenos Aires are all influenced by the same family. The original founding family sold off Freddo in the 1990's to a corporation. They then opened Un Altra Volta in 2002, which sold that same fantastic ice creambut also offered coffee and pastries.
The ambiance at Un Altra Volta is modern and chique. There is a nice assortment of fun cone sizes (I love the waffle bowls!) as well as many flavors, including (again), a separate dulce de leche section.
I couldn't help but get one of those super cute waffle bowls as well as a couple different flavors. It's perfectly normal in Argentina to order two flavors, even if you're only ordering one "scoop." I always took advantage of that feature.
This ice cream was very tasty too, but for some reason I slightly preferred my ice cream at Freddo. I'm not sure why - I think this one had a slightly less dense texture, which was something I really liked about the one I had at Freddo.
In some ways it's not fair the way I'm comparing these ice cream shops because I am not ordering the exact same ice cream at each location. I also think I didn't like this particular scoop as much because I found it to be too sweet. Instead of ordering a plain dulce de leche scoop, I ordered one that had extra nuts, caramel, and all sorts of other sweet goodies. For some, this would be heaven. For me, it turned out to be too sweet.
I still think the ice cream is generally excellent. I would just stick with my favorite, plain and simple flavors.
3. Persicco
Persicco is the third rung of the ice cream triumvirate in Buenos Aires. Also opened by the family that originally opened Freddo (yes, this family has revolutionized ice cream in Buenos Aires!), Persicco offers different types of waffle bowls (just as cute, but slightly larger) as well as an assortment of cute bean-shaped take-out containers.
We stopped by Persicco on our second full day walking around Buenos Aires. The first day I had tried the dulce de leche at Freddo so I wanted to try something completely different.
Our tour guide, Nestor (who took us to some fantastic food places a well), highly recommended the marscapone with strawberries ice cream flavor, which he said was another one of his favorites.
The marscapone ice cream was good, but for me, the fruit jam was way too sweet. I think in general the Argentinian palate is sweeter than a typical Asian palate, so it's generally harder for me to adjust. I found that I most preferred the plain flavors, most notably dulce de leche.
I wish I'd had a chance to try more of their flavors. Many people cite Persicco as their favorite of the top three chains. If I'd had more time, I would have loved to try their version of dulce de leche or other interesting flavors.
4. Banova Helado Artesanal
Banova Helado Artesanal {website} was an ice cream shop we just stumbled upon while walking around in Buenos Aires. I was craving an ice cream cone at the time (it was hot there!) and this place seemed pretty good.
Next time.
Revisiting Freddo
No, I'm not doing the Asian "peace sign" thing. I'm actually indicating that it was my second ice cream that day. On our last day in Argentina, we took a day trip across the water to visit Colonia City in Uraguay. It was there that I had my first really bad ice cream cone. I can't even remember the name of the place anymore. I was just so disappointed that deep down inside, I felt like I wanted another good ice cream cone to make up for it.
Domo in Colonia City
At the end of the day (right before we had to board the boat to cross back to Argentina), we spotted a Freddo in Uraguay. I was hesitant, but Bryan knew my deep down desires and dragged me into the Freddo so I could get my redemptive cone.
And it was so worth it.
And that was my last ice cream cone in South America before we boarded an airplane to head back to the States.
Sweet potato ice cream from Chila
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